Why it’s tough being the new M5
Iconic forebears, a pointless party trick, an enemy within… the F90 has its work cut out, reckons Adam Towler
LIFE ISN’T EASY FOR THE NEW M5. How so? The M5 badge remains the solid gold standard for supersaloons: it’s the model with all the history, the prestige. This latest F90 M5 has a 592bhp twin-turbo V8, a chassis developed by an M division that, if very recent evidence is to go by, is getting back to its best, and combines the undoubted benefits of all-wheel-drive traction with the ability to be rear drive and Esp-free on demand. What more could anyone possibly want? My relative apathy suggests quite a bit more (or should that be less?), and here’s why.
The new M5 is under pressure from all sides, not least the weight of history. Its distant, E28-based ancestor invented the genre by blending supercar performance with the quality, specification and space of a luxury saloon. It was raw and visceral, yet useable and comfortable in equal measure – pretty much what you’d expect when you dropped the M1 supercar’s straight-six into a wellappointed rear-drive saloon with semitrailing-arm rear suspension, and all long before the advent of traction control.
Part of my problem with the F90 is that its main USP – the ability to switch from four-wheel drive to rear drive at the push of a paddle – is something that MercedesAMG beat it to some months ago when it launched the formidable E63 S. Moreover, I’m not actually convinced that this ability is anything more than a gimmick designed to keep journalists happy on press launches with access to deserted race circuits. Remember, this is a neartwo-ton car that can only be rear drive with all electronic safety systems turned off (as is the case with the AMG); the potential for Bmw-approved body shops to build up a backlog of work seems high.
And therein lies the nub of the issue. It’s one thing to slide a 400bhp E39 M5; perhaps even easier to get a 335bhp E34 M5 on narrower rubber to move around, but how relevant is it in the new car? And will many owners really take to a trackday in the new M5? My experience of a pre-production F90 and earlier M5s suggests they’re far too big and heavy to be seriously considered for anything of that nature.
Even the headline 600 PS output seems likely to elicit a shrug these days. Beyond a certain level – debate at leisure what that might be – it’s all academic anyway: it can’t really be enjoyed on the public road. On the upside, it’s good to hear that the F90 still feels rear driven even with all four wheels working: it’s just a shame it doesn’t offer more of the connection we crave when pressing on.
But perhaps the new M5’s biggest headache comes from within, and the latest My18-spec M3 in Competition Package form. Unlike back in the day when hot 3-series were, well, small, and the 5-series was, er, bigger, there’s plenty of room in a current M3, unless you want to chauffeur adults around, and the boot’s a fair size, too. It’s too early to say if the M3 outpoints its bigger brother, but I strongly suspect it’s more fun to drive. And then there’s the sound. There may be an engineering reason why the M5’s V8 still sounds flat – reducing lag, apparently – but the straight-six sounds better.
All of which leaves me wondering where the new M5 fits in. Undeniably a good car, I await its arrival in the UK to see if and where it can carve its own niche.